Sitting with the man on the horse, Doc polishes the beast's mane with his sleeve a bit before saying, "I just don't know, any more. You don't keep this horse nearly as shiny as you used to. I can't afford to keep doing this for you, General." He pushed his hand into his pocket and pulled out a cherry-sized orb of metal with one hand and bristleless hairbrush with the other, then used the latter to smack the former in a paddleball type arrangement, bouncing it with the most ridiculous skill to have practiced as he leaned back against the metal man.

What had been an especially chilly day amongst the wastelands of New Mexico had transformed into a frigid, rainy evening in Artesia. The rain was accompanied by powerful winds that rattled the ruined stone facades of what was left in this place, and the debris that clogged the streets was thrown around carelessly in the gale. Among the abandoned buildings, broken down cars, and creatures of all shape and size, sat the remains of what had once been a shopping center. Most caravans and scavengers had avoided the northeastern part of the ruined city as a result of it's raider presence, but if the information that deputy Jackson Parkes had received was accurate, there was an individual inside that shopping center that he absolutely needed to locate. As for the group themselves, they'd spent the past hours making the difficult journey down Highway 285 in the hellacious weather. However, in time, they'd breached the outskirts of the ruined city, and navigated the maze-like streets to the northeast until the massive building Jackson had spoken of came into sight. It was a titanic, three-story structure with a parking lot on all four of it's sides-- A superstore of massive proportions. On the signs coating the building's crumbling exterior, brand names like Rob-Co and General Atomics populated the largest of them, hinting at what sorts of treasures could lie within the remains of the crumbling structure. The group's goal was simple. Enter the building, locate the management offices, and attempt to locate the individual that Jackson is searching for. By Jackson's description, his name is Robby Rayes, and the last time the deputy had seen him, he stood at around 5'8, 180 pounds, and was an old friend of his father's. However, he was silent in regard to why exactly he was looking for him. Clearly, it's personal business. All he had to say about it for the majority of the trip was simple. "It's just something I have to do."

Alasa is nice and relaxed when the get to the mall, having been riding her cool new motorcycle...yes, so much better then those people that ride horses...and they don't have those smelly parts either. "Well at least they have adequet parking..." as she shuts down the engine. She looks to Sally, who had been rolling behind her for the trip. "Your on guard duty, watch the bike..." She gets off the bike stretching, as Bob hops down from the back. "What say you Bob, want to go to the mall?"

Kae is well, she doesn't have a vehicle. But well she's finally made it to an area near the Mall! She is wearing that dark stealth armor she favors now, the nigh form-fitting composite armor made of space age ceramis, carbon fiber and a metal reinforced mesh very visible in the late desert sun, at least for now. She's currently got the helmet disengaged, her long pony tail hanging free for now. At the small of her back, set up to draw horizontally is a p90. She's got a colt-1911 on her right hip and strapped across her back is her handy dandy Carbine...

The woman tilts her head as she looks at the mall, then notices the person on the bike and offers a wave, hoping that catches their attention as she kneels down to look at the big statue in the distance.

As the group descended upon their destination, the building revealed itself in greater clarity to Jackson as he slowed his horse to a halt. Though it was difficult to make out through the rain, the wide glass doors that served as the mall's eastern entrance were visible through the spiderweb of vehicles in the parking lot. The deputy instinctively scanned his surroundings to the best of his ability, and after assuring himself that there weren't any threatening interlopers that might ambush them as they approached, he gave his companions a signal to halt their progress. At the very least, they'd come this far alongside him with no real idea of why they'd come. So, it was time to give them the explanation they deserved. Jack dismounted his horse with a sigh of effort, and after standing before his gatherred companions, addressed them with a short, frustrated tone clinging to his words. "First, I want to thank you all for following me down this way on so little intel. I don't often do this kind of thing, but it has nothing to do with ya'll. Yeah, it could potentially effect the citizens that pass through here, but they all know it's dangerous 'round these parts anyway.." He paused for a second, shaking the rain off of his armored gloves, then continued. "Robbie Rayes is the leader of a band of raiders that's been scavenging their way through this shopping center over the last three days. They've been calling themselves 'The Heat.' Simply put, I have reason to believe that Robbie Rayes might know who the bastard Enclave piece of shit that killed my parents is." He paused for a moment, allowing his group to take that in. "It might not effect ya'll. Hell, this might not even effect El Dorado. But... I need this. And I might need the help. If this isn't something you want to be a part of, so be it. You don't have to stay. But if you're in? I need your assurance that you're ALL in. No matter what happens." That last part? That sounded uncharacteristic for a self proclaimed man of the law that Jackson claimed to be, and he knew it. Regardless of it, he shook off the thought, and looked over his gathered followers a last time. "There could be fighting. Maybe raiders, maybe Enclave, maybe something else entirely. I'm not sure. I'm going in with as much information as ya'll are now. So.. Make your call. If you're in, follow me." And with that, the deputy turned on his heels, and led his horse toward the entrance of the shopping center. After getting the creature out of the rain, he gave it a soft stroke on it's mane, then tied it up to one of the pillars supporting the building's roof, and prepared to open the doors.

Conway rode into town once he heard Deputy Jackson was looking for someone, and that 'someone' was in alot of trouble with the law. Conway has been up this way a few times before and knew the quickest route to get there, trying to be ready and in position before shots popped off. Though, he manages to make it into town in-time before anything has went down. He spots Jackson outside of the shopping center, approaching him on his horse. He listens to Jackson's speech about the motives for capturing Mr. Rayes, slowly nodding his head in agreement. "We're with you." Conway is dressed to impress in his entire departmental uniform - a tan shirt with his 'Sheriff' badge pinned to his chest, a duty belt that holds his cuffs, a revolver and some spare speed loaders. His left hand is drooped to the side and clenched around the butt of a sawed-off shotgun, departmental issued.

Doc tilted his head from atop the mighty steed. "Suicide mission?" he asks. Taking hold of the general's arm, he swung his leg around and swung out and dropped down. "I remember you," he growled, though not intentionally. "You were there when that smooth-skin...freed you from the TV's in the junkyard. Look, I'm not going to lie, I was only here for the nostalgia, but the gang's been gone for hundreds of years and you're here, and I'm here, and let's go ask a question about your dead parents." He tried a smile, but it was more frightening than reassuring. "It's not like anybody shoots ghouls on sight without asking if they're feral first."

Alasa gives a wave of her hand to Kae, "Hey...were going inside looking around on a mall crawl!" She looks to Jackson, "Well, we came out here...no sense going back, without going inside. Sides, it could be fun...."

With a nod to all of his companions, Jack approached the glass doors that composed the entrance, and did his best to shake of the unnerving comments of his ghoulish follower. He'd have to say something about that to Doc later-- but now wasn't the time. He pulled the rusted frame of the doors open with a grinding screech, but continued inside unabashed, revealing the sprawling interior of the food court within. Every one of the pre-war's finest fast food chains displayed themselves in magnificent glory to the rag-tag group of volunteers, but they were a shadow of what they'd been in the past. Burnt-out signs, broken registers, chairs which had been removed, knocked over, or altogether destroyed, and whatever the hell else which had been scavenged, decayed, or eaten by whatever lived here now. Needless to say, they had some searching to do.